New bike for Audax from Halfords.

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

Hello.
I apologise for probably asking the same old question. I live in Gravesend in Kent UK. There’s a good Cycling club which I will apply to join once I have built up my strength and endurance. I’m fortunate to have a 2.5 Km cycle track locally. my question is I want to buy a bike suitable for Audax. The only local shop is Halfords. My question is which make and model bike should I consider buying. I have a Carrera Parva hybrid bike which I’ve had for five years. It lives outside and is ridden every day. I have a Brooks leather saddle on the shelf so I can overlook that component on my new purchase.

Looking at Gravesend Cycling Club site I read this:

Ride
Club Run
Every Sunday, starting from Cobham War Memorial. 9am in winter, 8:30am when on BST. This is a no-drop ride. All abilities welcome.

That sounds good. Could be worth turning up and having a word with them.  Can't see why they would not be happy to help a keen newcomer.

My first club ride there were three of us. That was the entire club and I was slowest with the heaviest bike but the other two didn't mind waiting for me when necessary.

[citoyen]

Apologies for any potential bunkum spouted.    I was kind of assuming since the OP was thinking about joining a cycling club & doing Audax, that they had resonable road riding experience to build on.

OP has mentioned their usual rides being no more than 1.5 miles and doing a 4.4 mile ride to Cobham in “under 30 minutes”.

Distance and speed both need a lot of work. And for that, Cyclopark would be fine. But there’s no substitute for getting out on real roads.

I may be underestimating their previous experience of road riding but I only have what has been said in this thread to go on.

That said, I assume the OP must be reasonably confident on roads - Gravesend itself is not very cyclist friendly…

Fortunately, there are some nice lanes once you get out of town. Also some nice hills, which is another thing you don’t get at Cyclopark. [ETA: I see Kim has already made this point]

Inner tubes should be very low down their list of priorities.

[quixoticgeek]

Be very careful about gate keeping.

I finished my bike end of November 2017. I did my first 200km Audax on the last weekend of January 2018. Essentially 2 months from commuting to 200k.

I see people talking about average speed of 25kph. My average speed on a BRM is 20kph. This gives 10 hours moving, 3.5 for eating. That's plenty fast enough to finish in the time limit.

Put some faster tyres on your bike and go ride an Audax. Maybe you have to hop on a train 100km in. You've not lost much and you'll learn a lot. Or maybe you do the ride in 13 hours and sign up for another one while you have a beer at the finish.

And to the OP. You're more than welcome at my Audax events in Amsterdam, not the easiest to get to from Gravesend, but come over, make a good holiday if it and explore another country.

A member of this forum did my 200k last March on an upright single speed omafiets. The bike you have is fine
 Just ride it. If you want, stick better tyres on (this is a big improvement worth making). Else ride.

J
 

[jsabine]

Well, the OP clearly has ambitions to ride more than 4.4 miles in one go and it's realistic enough to think of 25km as a stepping stone, especially when audaxes can start at 50 ...

FWIW, I reckon regular riding is a good start - when I was commuting a reasonable distance (about 7 miles each way, 5 days a week) my role of thumb was that doing my weekly distance in one go was a fairly plausible ride. Maybe type 2 fun, but doable without *too* much trouble.

[Blodwyn Pig]

To the OP.  Might I ask some personal questions about you, ie M/F, height , approx weight , and general fitness level, and personal comfort / experience around cars on the road/ road riding in general.  I hope not to appear rude, but it will give the panel a better understanding of your needs. ie, if you are a 4’10” and extremely overweight female, who is terrified of traffic, then there is much work to do before  you consider n+1, even then, I believe female specific bikes are shorter, ( but may be wrong), so finding a suitable bike will be the quest. However if you are avg height/ build, and comfortable in traffic, then less of a problem. As I said, I am NOT being rude, or sexist, or anything other than helpful.

[citoyen]

Be very careful about gate keeping.

Do you think that’s what I’m doing?

[quixoticgeek]

Be very careful about gate keeping.

Do you think that’s what I’m doing?

I wasn't singling anyone out with that. But there are some posts that felt to me like they are coming very close to gate keeping.

J

[Paul H]

FWIW, I reckon regular riding is a good start - when I was commuting a reasonable distance (about 7 miles each way, 5 days a week) my role of thumb was that doing my weekly distance in one go was a fairly plausible ride. Maybe type 2 fun, but doable without *too* much trouble.

That was also my experience.  My first Audax* was three times longer than my previous longest ride. I jumped from a couple of 30 mile CTC easy rides to the 150km Forest Ghump.  But I'd been commuting 5 miles each way for over a year. I did struggle a bit, but not to the point where it looked like I might not finish, and the BP minimum time is generous enough to allow walking up any hills. Rode that and a few others up to 300km on a bike not dissimilar to the OP's, though the advice to change tyres was much appreciated.
I then spent a decade, and a considerable chunk of money, chasing the perfect Audax bike before ending up with a bike similar to the one I started out with, though of far better quality.  I think the OP should ride more on the bike they have, with better tyres as the first upgrade, then look for a better bike for them rather than better for Audax.

* I didn't know what an Audax was, possibly still don't, though I now know what I want from it.

[Jethro]

I have a very nice Van Nicholas Yukon (Titanium) Audax bike for sale.  See the For Sale section.

[quixoticgeek]

For context. This morning race around the Netherlands started. One rider is riding it on a cargo bike. Complete with crate on the front. You'd be amazed at how far people can ride on many different types of bike...

J

[chrisbainbridge]

For context. This morning race around the Netherlands started. One rider is riding it on a cargo bike. Complete with crate on the front. You'd be amazed at how far people can ride on many different types of bike...

J

a person can ride anything pretty much anywhere with training.  What the majority of people cannot do is go from 3km to 100km without training.  It is never about the bike.

[quixoticgeek]

a person can ride anything pretty much anywhere with training.  What the majority of people cannot do is go from 3km to 100km without training.  It is never about the bike.

Almost everyone can ride 100km. They just won't be quick. And it won't be fun.

J

[Delidroid]

To the OP.  Might I ask some personal questions about you, ie M/F, height , approx weight , and general fitness level, and personal comfort / experience around cars on the road/ road riding in general.  I hope not to appear rude, but it will give the panel a better understanding of your needs. ie, if you are a 4’10” and extremely overweight female, who is terrified of traffic, then there is much work to do before  you consider n+1, even then, I believe female specific bikes are shorter, ( but may be wrong), so finding a suitable bike will be the quest. However if you are avg height/ build, and comfortable in traffic, then less of a problem. As I said, I am NOT being rude, or sexist, or anything other than helpful.

Hello Blodwyn.
Here's my spec. I'm a Man. 5'9". 60 years old about 14 1/2 Stone. I have a full Car and Motorcycle License. I want to build a certain level of fitness so that I'm not the fat git at the back holding everyone up.
I thought the average speed for Audax was 15 Kmh Which is what I gleaned from reading posts on here. but someone just said it's 25 Kmh.

If I may, I'll contact You and Kim directly when I have ridden a bit further and faster.

[quixoticgeek]

Hello Blodwyn.
Here's my spec. I'm a Man. 5'9". 60 years old about 14 1/2 Stone. I have a full Car and Motorcycle License. I want to build a certain level of fitness so that I'm not the fat git at the back holding everyone up.
I thought the average speed for Audax was 15 Kmh Which is what I gleaned from reading posts on here. but someone just said it's 25 Kmh.

If I may, I'll contact You and Kim directly when I have ridden a bit further and faster.

To clarify. Average speed is 15kph. But that includes stops. So if you cycle at a constant 15kph, you won't have time to stop for food, or to pee. So generally you want to be a bit quicker. I'm happy if I average 20kph when moving.


 As mentioned up thread, this gives me 10 hours to ride, and 3.5 hours for eating, admiring the view, and any mechanicals. I do know people who ride a lot faster. On the last 200km BRM I organised one rider arrived on the dot of 0645. Giving a 30kph average including stops. Which is bloomin fast. The final rider came in at about 13 hours.

Don't worry about 25kph. You may get there, but it's not necessarily, and setting it as target may be disheartening.

An Audax is in theory a solo event. Being slow isn't a problem, you don't hold anyone up. People might disappear up the road, but you're not holding anyone up.

No good organiser is going to have any problem with you arriving at 13:29, as long as you've not taken the piss by sitting in the pub round the corner having a beer or 3. An organiser knows the time limit on the ride, and signs up to be there for the whole time.

The biggest sin in Audax is to abandon the ride without telling the organiser. Being slow is entirely ok. You don't hold anyone up. Ride your own ride. Tho you might do a lot of riding alone. (I've done almost all my Audax rides completely solo as everyone is quicker than me).

So. Don't worry too much about speed. 25kph is unobtainably optimistic for a new audaxer anyway.

Just ride. And that invite for the Amsterdam Audax events is a genuine invite.

J

[Paul H]

I thought the average speed for Audax was 15 Kmh Which is what I gleaned from reading posts on here. but someone just said it's 25 Kmh.

To clarify. Average speed is 15kph. But that includes stops. So if you cycle at a constant 15kph, you won't have time to stop for food, or to pee. So generally you want to be a bit quicker. I'm happy if I average 20kph when moving.

J

For those rides under 200km, BP's, it's usually 12.5kph though can be as low as 10 at the organisers discretion. 
It isn't usually speed that would cause someone to not finish a BP, unless it's particularly hilly, if they can ride the distance they can probably do it within the time.

[tonyh]

1. As so often, there's a huge amount of useful knowledge and advice on here.

2. By the way, I've always been disappointed by the difference between my effortful speeds on a "fast light bike with fast tyres" and the other sort. On the whole, less than 1mph. Is it me??

[grams]

By the way, I've always been disappointed by the difference between my effortful speeds on a "fast light bike with fast tyres" and the other sort. On the whole, less than 1mph. Is it me??

Mathematically speaking, bicycle speed is largely a function of power output vs wind resistance (mostly of your body) and on particularly hilly rides power vs weight (again, mostly of your body). While the style of bike can definitely influence those things, for the same rider on two vaguely similar bikes they're going to work out pretty close.

Rolling resistance, bicycle weight, gearing, even the weight of a bit of luggage has a much smaller influence than many road club bores people who've watched too much GCN people assume.

[tonyh]

 

[quixoticgeek]

https://www.strava.com/activities/1378437082

This is the Strava entry for my first ever Audax.

Looks like I averaged 18.5kph.

I was running Schwalbe Marathon green guard tyres. I replaced them with Conti GP4k immediately after.

J

[Delidroid]

Thank You for the invite Quixoticgeek. I’ve never been to Amsterdam.

[Blodwyn Pig]

To the OP.  Might I ask some personal questions about you, ie M/F, height , approx weight , and general fitness level, and personal comfort / experience around cars on the road/ road riding in general.  I hope not to appear rude, but it will give the panel a better understanding of your needs. ie, if you are a 4’10” and extremely overweight female, who is terrified of traffic, then there is much work to do before  you consider n+1, even then, I believe female specific bikes are shorter, ( but may be wrong), so finding a suitable bike will be the quest. However if you are avg height/ build, and comfortable in traffic, then less of a problem. As I said, I am NOT being rude, or sexist, or anything other than helpful.

Hello Blodwyn.
Here's my spec. I'm a Man. 5'9". 60 years old about 14 1/2 Stone. I have a full Car and Motorcycle License. I want to build a certain level of fitness so that I'm not the fat git at the back holding everyone up.
I thought the average speed for Audax was 15 Kmh Which is what I gleaned from reading posts on here. but someone just said it's 25 Kmh.

If I may, I'll contact You and Kim directly when I have ridden a bit further and faster.

Excellent, now then, I propose a wee ride, next Sat, starting at the Cyclopark at 9.00 am? for a wee jolly of about 25-30 km, speed is not important, and we'll have a nice ride. out towards Ifield/Cobham/ Pear Tree Lane, / down into Higham/ back along the canal, What could be simpler. It'll be over before you know it, and believe me, riding with some one else, is so much easier than riding on your own. What do you say? PM if you like.

[Delidroid]

Nice one. It’s a Date. I’ll wear my jersey which looks like a Heineken advert. My Name is Derek but everyone calls Me Del. I look forward to it.
Cyclo park: Are we meeting at the Wrotham Rd Entrance please?

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

By the way, I've always been disappointed by the difference between my effortful speeds on a "fast light bike with fast tyres" and the other sort. On the whole, less than 1mph. Is it me??

Mathematically speaking, bicycle speed is largely a function of power output vs wind resistance (mostly of your body) and on particularly hilly rides power vs weight (again, mostly of your body). While the style of bike can definitely influence those things, for the same rider on two vaguely similar bikes they're going to work out pretty close.

Rolling resistance, bicycle weight, gearing, even the weight of a bit of luggage has a much smaller influence than many road club bores people who've watched too much GCN people assume.

Ergonomics or bike fit is something I pay most attention to.  It's also nice to have gearing that suits your power band.  My first century ride I wore jeans and trainers, a lot of people did.  Lycra and cycling shoes are much better.

WRT weight, I turn up to club rides on old steel bikes and people with carbon fibre have expressed their amazement when I reach the tops of hills.  Especially the younger ones (people, not hills)..

[citoyen]

Nice one. It’s a Date. I’ll wear my jersey which looks like a Heineken advert. My Name is Derek but everyone calls Me Del. I look forward to it.
Cyclo park: Are we meeting at the Wrotham Rd Entrance please?

Excellent. Good luck.

QG makes a fair point about gate keeping, and I hope my earlier comments haven't come across as discouraging - I completely agree with what jsabine said, that your ambition to ride 25km is perfectly reasonable and achievable, and a good stepping stone to audax distances. I do think you'll be a LOT better off doing it on the road rather than the track though (Kim has spelt out the reasons), so it's great that BP is able to support you on that score.

Btw, if you want a training target to aim for, I have an audax event starting near Herne Bay in September, with 110km, 160km and 200km distances. 

[arabella]

A member of this forum did my 200k last March on an upright single speed omafiets. The bike you have is fine

(Pedant alert - it was fixed gear, not single speed) 
I should probably add that I've been audaxing since 2005.  200s hurt until I did a 300 etc..  I've done a couple of SR series (that's 200/300/400/600km rides) on that and its predecessor. 

A rule of thumb I found useful in the early days (first year or so until I got more relaxed) was to have done at least half the distance of the audax in the previous fortnight.  So if you're doing a 100km ride then make sure you've done at least that in the preceding fortnight eg as 10-20km/day, not every day - this gives you a nice baseline.  So you're looking at starting with 3-4 mile rides, then up to 5-6 miles etc..  That way you'll either get used to your current bike or get a better idea of what you want/need to change.